Description
Includes Walthamstow Village (attractive with some very old parts), Wood Road (independent shops, eating and a station), Epping Forest (lovely but muddy), a quiet straight run along residential streets, Roding Valley Park (path along riverbank), Claybury Park (woods, meadows and ponds, view towards the City), and more quiet residential streets through Grange Hill and Chigwell, until fairly near Chigwell Station.
WalChi 1 was impossible to follow through Epping Forest with a lot of road walking, often busy roads. This route is about half on, half off road. There is overlap with WaltLou 2 and ChiRom 2 at either end. In Epping Forest there is a small fiddly diversion from the WaltLou 2 line (and the London Loop) in near the allotment site and waterworks. It was a particularly wet winter when I walked it and this avoids an especially muddy slope I didn't trust. Following the Loop signs will generally be fine. Epping Forest can be very muddy and the mud gets very wide but mostly you can skirt the worst.
There are kissing gates, a footbridge with long ramps over the Central Line, maybe other obstacles too. Decent road crossing points except Roding Lane North and Hainault Road (the northern crossing), both have bends to the north blocking the view so cross to the south.
Some info on Claybury Park and the Roding Valley Park from Redbridge council.
https://visionrcl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/roding-valley-may-19.pdf
https://visionrcl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/claybury-park-leaflet-updated-2022.pdf
Route uploaded on 29 Mar 2024, description edited on 28 Aug 2024
Includes Walthamstow Village (attractive with some very old parts), Wood Road (independent shops, eating and a station), Epping Forest (lovely but muddy), a quiet straight run along residential streets, Roding Valley Park (path along riverbank), Claybury Park (woods, meadows and ponds, view towards the City), and more quiet residential streets through Grange Hill and Chigwell, until fairly near Chigwell Station.
WalChi 1 was impossible to follow through Epping Forest with a lot of road walking, often busy roads. This route is about half on, half off road. There is overlap with WaltLou 2 and ChiRom 2 at either end. In Epping Forest there is a small fiddly diversion from the WaltLou 2 line (and the London Loop) in near the allotment site and waterworks. It was a particularly wet winter when I walked it and this avoids an especially muddy slope I didn't trust. Following the Loop signs will generally be fine. Epping Forest can be very muddy and the mud gets very wide but mostly you can skirt the worst.
There are kissing gates, a footbridge with long ramps over the Central Line, maybe other obstacles too. Decent road crossing points except Roding Lane North and Hainault Road (the northern crossing), both have bends to the north blocking the view so cross to the south.
Some info on Claybury Park and the Roding Valley Park from Redbridge council.
https://visionrcl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/roding-valley-may-19.pdf
https://visionrcl.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/claybury-park-leaflet-updated-2022.pdf
Route uploaded on 29 Mar 2024, description edited on 28 Aug 2024
Status
This route has been reviewed by 3 people.
There are no issues flagged.
Photos for Walchi two
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Information
Route status - Live
Reviews - 3
Average rating -
Is this route good enough? - Yes (3)
There are currently no problems reported with this route.
Downloads - 5
Surveys
What is this route like?
Surveys are submitted by fellow users of this website and show what you might expect from this Slow Ways route. Scroll down the page to read more detailed surveys.
| Grade 4X based on 1 surveys | Sign up or log in to survey this route. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | Note | ||
| Grade 4: Route includes very rough surfaces including deep ruts, steep loose gravel, unmade paths and deep muddy sections. Wheelchairs may experience traction/wheel spin issues. Access grade X: At least one stile, flight of steps or other obstacle that is highly likely to block access for wheelchair and scooter users. |
Grading is based on average scores by surveyors. This slow way has 1 surveys. | ||
| Full grading description | |||
Only people who have completed our training can become Slow Ways surveyors and submit a survey. We do not vet contributors, so we cannot guarantee the quality or completeness of the surveys they complete. If you are dependent on the information being correct we recommend reading and comparing surveys before setting off.
Survey Photos
Facilities
Facilities in the middle third of this route.
Challenges
Potential challenges reported on this route. Some challenges are seasonal.
Obstacles
Obstacles on this route.
Accessibility
Is this route step and stile free?
Measurements
Surveyors were asked to measure the narrowest and steepest parts of paths.
The narrowest part of the path is 40.0cm (1)
The steepest uphill gradient walking East 100.0% (1)
The steepest uphill gradient walking West 20.0% (1)
The steepest camber gradient across the path 5.0% (1)
How clear is the waymarking on the route: Unclear in places (1)
Successfully completed
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Recommended by an expert
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Terrain
We asked route surveyors to estimate how much of the route goes through different kinds of terrain.
50.0% of the route is on roads (1)
50.0% of the route is lit at night (1)
60.0% of the route is paved (1)
20.0% of the route is muddy (1)
20.0% of the route is over rough ground (1)
10.0% of the route is through long grass (1)
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1 surveys
Information from verified surveys.
Geography information system (GIS) data
Total length
Maximum elevation
Minimum elevation
Start and end points
Walthamstow
Grid Ref
TQ3715389022
Lat / Lon
51.58338° / -0.02182°
Easting / Northing
537,153E / 189,022N
What3Words
flats.vast.porch
Chigwell
Grid Ref
TQ4370493045
Lat / Lon
51.61789° / 0.07432°
Easting / Northing
543,704E / 193,045N
What3Words
dame.remark.rots
| Walthamstow | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | TQ3715389022 |
| Lat / Lon | 51.58338° / -0.02182° |
| Easting / Northing | 537,153E / 189,022N |
| What3Words | flats.vast.porch |
| Chigwell | |
|---|---|
| Grid Ref | TQ4370493045 |
| Lat / Lon | 51.61789° / 0.07432° |
| Easting / Northing | 543,704E / 193,045N |
| What3Words | dame.remark.rots |
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reviews
Strider
06 Jul 2024I walked from Walthamstow to Chigwell on a rainy day.
So much in common with other nearby routes I thought I'd walked this before.
Good use of green space, wide paths in some areas, quite narrow and overgrown in others. Lots of puddles in the rain but no mud (there is in winter). Pavement parking caused problems, but the roads are quiet. Not fir wheels. Some unnecessary zigzags and a steep embankment.
But a good walk with lots of variety.
Dan Barron
04 Jul 2024A great route that I walked from Chigwell to Walthamstow. As Daisy mentions, despite being very suburban, she has managed to include some really great patches of green. I particularly enjoyed Claybury Park and the few moments I got along side the river Roding and I spotted some lovely wildlife by the water.
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Daisy C
29 Jan 2024Worth 5 stars, primarily for having plenty of wild(ish) off-road walking, given the suburban remit. Also because the inevitable road walking is quiet and pleasant. The biggest issue for me were the two sub-par road crossings but my own experience wasn't bad I just wouldn't recommend them without putting a warning, the route description is better since any review will eventually drop below a list of more recent ones.
Being enjoyable is a subjective criteria, and the varied (semi-)natural habitats (Claybury Park and the riverbank on top of Epping Forest) and the variation in neighbourhood character achieve that for me, and avoiding walking beside busy roads is also important. I'm happy with the somewhat removed but louder traffic of the M11, where the wild habitats remaining / "restored" interest me. It’s not surprising that I designed a route which fulfils my own interpretation of the Slow Ways criteria well. Plus the overlap with nearby, successful routes that I've personally tested is tidier and will make it easier for me and others to review the area's routes efficiently.
I should confess I did not walk the whole thing, but a similar route via The Green (in Wood Green), Horn Lane, Broadmead Lane. It was also quiet, has similar green spaces and was suitable but only until the closed-to-motor-vehicles bridge on the A1009 is repaired, so I subsequently redesigned it. The low traffic levels on this version are by design, the equivalent roads cannot take traffic across the Central Line. The missing part starts from the meadow in Epping Forest by Chelmsford Road and ends where this route leaves the bank of the Roding in Woodford. All the road walking is on G St View. It looks pleasant and not as if it's used (or very useful) as a rat-run. I had a genuine glimpse at the River Roding, which was very scenic and the riverside path was very tempting. Can conditions there possibly be harder going or muddier than Epping Forest? I hope to go back fairly soon and find out.
Some other options I considered and rejected keep heading north through various parts of Epping Forest which can be done using WaltLou and LouChi Slow Ways. Others combined aspects of this route with the Roding Valley, runners routes through sports grounds and, often, more direct and noisier approaches into Chigwell, the geography makes that difficult to avoid. Happily copying ChiRom 2 means this route does exactly that.
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